Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Andorra and from Glasgow.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1966 to 1976.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Accra and Toronto.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Edmonton kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1962 at the first Guess Who practice in a loft in Winnipeg.
I was working on the synthesizer sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing Spoonie Gee to the disco kids.
I played it at the 40 Watt.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Alphaville. All the underground hits.
All Eric Dolphy tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Amon Düül record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal jazz hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '50s cut and another box set from the '70s.
I hear you're buying a snare and a rhodes and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Bang On A Can record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your güiro and bought a mellotron.
I hear that you and your band have sold your mellotron and bought a güiro.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
The J.B.'s,
Alton Ellis,
Mo-Dettes,
Danielle Patucci,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Lalo Schifrin,
The Dave Clark Five,
Ituana,
Scott Walker,
The Selecter,
The Martian,
The Zeros,
The Doors,
The Slits,
Skriet,
DJ Sneak,
U.S. Maple,
Minnie Riperton,
Prince Buster,
Tears for Fears,
Eric Copeland,
Angry Samoans,
Bobby Byrd,
Slick Rick,
Tim Buckley,
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band,
Eric Dolphy,
Schoolly D,
Jerry Gold Smith,
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes,
David Axelrod,
Silicon Teens,
Pere Ubu,
The Real Kids,
Lindisfarne,
Section 25,
Fela Kuti,
Thompson Twins,
Brothers Johnson,
Angels of Light & Akron/Family,
H. Thieme,
Swell Maps,
The Techniques,
The Barracudas,
Das Ding,
Gian Franco Pienzio,
Heaven 17,
Livin' Joy,
The Blackbyrds,
Maleditus Sound,
Nation of Ulysses,
Jimmy McGriff,
Pulsallama,
Robert Hood,
Kings Of Tomorrow,
Basic Channel,
Flamin' Groovies,
Avey Tare,
Fort Wilson Riot,
B.T. Express,
Graham Central Station,
Cameo,
Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul, Soul II Soul.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.